Diana At the Crossroad: Instincts

In America, I have a dog named Leo. He’s really smart and just about the cutest dog on the planet. However, he is a creature of habit and a slave to his instincts. For example, my dog thinks lotion is delicious. If you have lotion on your legs, he just can’t help licking. My mother or I would come out of the shower freshly shaven and lotioned (yes, before the PC I used to shave my legs! Lol). He would come bounding up to me because he missed me in the 10 minutes I was in the shower, and then realize my legs smell great. So, he’d start licking. That’s when I’d say “stop Leo” and he’s look at me for a second, then continue again. More forcefully this time, I would say “stop!” He’d stop and then try again, but this time, barely touching his tongue to my skin. Again, “LEO! Stop!” And this time, he’d start to slowly walk away, but crane his neck awkwardly to sneakily get a few last licks in, as if I wouldn’t notice. This is like the one thing for which he cannot help himself. He wants to stop but he can’t. The desire to lick the lotion is just too great.

I was reminded of Leo the other day because I gave my students a test. Khmer students cheat, and for the most part in Cambodia, no one stops them. They look at each others’ papers, sometimes just passing papers around the room. They talk. And I don’t mean whisper. They just flat out ask around the room for answers. Well, I don’t stand for this, so, giving the test, I told the students NO talking and NO cheating. But they can’t help themselves. They stop and look at me, and do it again 30 seconds later. “No talking!” Now they try whispering and looking at their neighbor’s paper quietly. “NO CHEATING!” And that’s when they put their faces flat and so close to the desk and speak so quietly that I can’t even see or tell from which student the murmur is coming from. They simply CAN’T not cheat. The word “stop” just doesn’t make sense in this context for them.

2 of my Cambodian counterparts, Daly and Lina.

This was back in January when every student was decked out in Angry Birds Paraphernalia, but no one knew what it was! Students learn a lot more than just English in out Honor Society!